President opens Ongwediva hospital

PRESIDENT Hifikepunye Pohamba has praised private investors for helping Government expand health services to all Namibians.

He was speaking at the official opening of the Ongwediva Medipark private hospital last week. “This is particularly significant in light of the needed expansion of health services, the modernisation of service delivery and the improvement of such services so that our people can benefit from the application of new technologies and healthcare solutions,” the President said.He said the establishment of the Ongwediva Medipark was made possible by a public-private partnership involving private investors such as the Ongwediva Town Council and Namibia Institute of Pathology.”We in the government have encouraged co-operation between the private and public sectors in order to create stronger synergies for the improvement of service delivery, not only in the health sector, but in other sectors of the economy as well,” Pohamba said.He said other sectors where Government and private business could join hands in national development included education and agriculture.The President said he was informed that the Ongwediva Medipark was seeking to formalise agreements with State hospital facilities in the North to help improve healthcare.He said although great strides had been made in improving quality and broadening access to healthcare in the last 16 years, much still needed to be done and multi-sectoral efforts were needed to address the growing burden placed on Namibian society by the HIV-AIDS pandemic.He said he was also happy to learn that Ongwediva Medipark had reached an agreement with the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund on the treatment of road accident victims.The Ongwediva Medipark hospital was built at a cost of N$46 million.It has the capacity for 50 beds, two operating theatres and a 24-hour emergency department.The hospital also has a modern pathology laboratory, which means that patients in the North no longer have to wait for samples to be sent to Windhoek for analysis.”This is particularly significant in light of the needed expansion of health services, the modernisation of service delivery and the improvement of such services so that our people can benefit from the application of new technologies and healthcare solutions,” the President said.He said the establishment of the Ongwediva Medipark was made possible by a public-private partnership involving private investors such as the Ongwediva Town Council and Namibia Institute of Pathology. “We in the government have encouraged co-operation between the private and public sectors in order to create stronger synergies for the improvement of service delivery, not only in the health sector, but in other sectors of the economy as well,” Pohamba said.He said other sectors where Government and private business could join hands in national development included education and agriculture.The President said he was informed that the Ongwediva Medipark was seeking to formalise agreements with State hospital facilities in the North to help improve healthcare.He said although great strides had been made in improving quality and broadening access to healthcare in the last 16 years, much still needed to be done and multi-sectoral efforts were needed to address the growing burden placed on Namibian society by the HIV-AIDS pandemic.He said he was also happy to learn that Ongwediva Medipark had reached an agreement with the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund on the treatment of road accident victims.The Ongwediva Medipark hospital was built at a cost of N$46 million.It has the capacity for 50 beds, two operating theatres and a 24-hour emergency department.The hospital also has a modern pathology laboratory, which means that patients in the North no longer have to wait for samples to be sent to Windhoek for analysis.